It’s not the recipe Georgia wants to follow once SEC play begins next week against Kentucky. But for now, the fact that the Bulldogs can rely on their bats to offset some big innings by opposing non-conference teams qualifies as a positive.
Such was the case again on Saturday as the Bulldogs saw Columbia jump out to a 6-0 lead against Leighton Finley before the offense answered with 16 unanswered runs to cruise to a 16-6 win.
A pair of errors did not help the cause for Georgia (17-1), either, before the Bulldogs rebounded to run-rule the Lions (1-8). The win was Georgia’s 14th straight, the program’s longest winning streak since 2009.
However, skipper Wes Johnson wasn’t necessarily pleased.
“Today was the one where I'd be lying to you if I told you I was happy with what we did the first third of that game. We were pretty sloppy today, the first half of that game, although that’s what happens when you play a lot of baseball in a row. I mean, you look, we played a lot of teams,” Johnson said. “We’ve played four or five more games than anybody in our league, so you expect that hiccup at some point.”
Fortunately for the Bulldogs, their bats once again answered the call.
Once again, Ryland Zaborowski swung the big bat for the Bulldogs. For the second straight day, the Miami of Ohio transfer hit two home runs and tied his career high in RBI with seven for Georgia, which scored its first 12 runs on just seven hits.
“That thing must look like a beach ball coming in,” Johnson said of Zaborowski. “He really likes his routine right now. He's seeing the ball well. He's breaking everything down. He's really good. He thinks a lot in a positive way. And, yeah, he's hitting the ball really good, and that’s good for the Dawgs.”
On the mound, there was both good and bad.
The bad was Finley, who allowed four runs in three innings with three walks and five strikeouts.
The good was Kolten Smith. Smith replaced Finley and gave up a grand slam, but only allowed two more hits after that. Smith – who has battled back spasms and an illness that he revealed after the game – was charged with just one run on three hits with one walk and six strikeouts.
“Sometimes life throws you a little adversity, and it's not necessarily how you do but how you respond,” said Smith, who earned his first win of the year. “I'm just glad to be out there helping my team and getting back into my groove.”
According to Smith, his illness caused him to lose 10 pounds.
“I’ve just been kind of grinding every day just to get back to be out there and helping my team,” Smith said. “But all that doesn’t matter, and at the end of the day, you just go out there and compete.”
Finley saw his ERA rise to 7.00 with Saturday’s effort.
“I didn't think Leighton threw the ball that bad,” Johnson said. “We had a couple of mistakes behind him, and I don't care who you're playing or what the situation is, mistakes behind you, having to throw a lot of extra pitches later in the game. It does wear on you after a while.”
Georgia and Columbia wrap up their series on Sunday at noon.
